Today’s meeting between the Presidents of China and Brazil, the two biggest developing countries in the Eastern and Western Hemispheres, as President Xi Jinping noted, has a significance beyond their bilateral agreements, as useful and important as the latter are.
Both leaders spoke of the importance of their relations for overall global peace. According to Xinhua, Xi spoke of “the overarching, strategic and global influence of China-Brazil relations,” as both nations cooperate to bring about “peace, stability and prosperity in their regions and around the world.” Likewise, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva called China “an indispensable force in global politics, economy and trade, science and technology, [which] plays a vital role in promoting world peace and development,” and said that “Brazil is committed to building closer relations with China from the strategic perspective of shaping a just and equitable international order.” (https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/zxxx_662805/202304/t20230414_11059515.html)
Cooperation in various multinational fora were stressed, from the G20 and BRICS, to the China-CELAC Forum for the integration of Ibero-America, with work on bringing about fair international development and finance included. “Both parties agreed that the future of all countries is closely intertwined, and that it is necessary to promote tolerance, coexistence, mutual learning and exchange between different civilizations,” their Joint Statement asserts.
Not everything which had been on the table was achieved, but the relationship between the two countries advanced significantly, in defiance of the crazed Western drive to vilify and isolate China.
The two leaders discussed how to help bring about an end to the Ukraine-Russia conflict, largely in their private meeting. Brazil’s UOL news service had reported that top diplomats from both countries had been working on a separate joint statement on peace, with discussions back-and-forth on the wording. Ultimately, what was issued was the following number 9 in their 49-point Joint Declaration:
